WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Gold prices pared early gains and drifted lower on Friday due largely to profit taking, but posted a solid gain for the week, snapping a two week losing streak.
Gold prices moved up to a fresh record high earlier in the day on safe-haven buying as weak manufacturing data and mixed tech earnings sparked worries about a U.S. recession. Falling bond yields contributed as well to the yellow metal's rise earlier in the day.
The yield on U.S. 10-year Treasury Note dropped to the lowest level since December and the dollar dropped to a four-month low after disappointing jobs data.
The dollar index dropped to 103.13, losing about 1.3%, before recovering slightly to 103.26.
Gold futures for August ended down $9.30 or about 0.38% at $2,425.70 an ounce. For the week, gold futures gained about 1.9%.
Silver futures for August ended lower by $0.850 or about 0.3% at $28.246 an ounce. Silver futures gained about 1.4% in the week.
Copper futures for August climbed to $4.1020 per pound, gaining $0.0355.
Data from the Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 114,000 jobs in July after jumping by a downwardly revised 179,000 jobs in June. Economists had expected employment to rise by 175,000 jobs compared to the surge of 206,000 jobs originally reported for the previous month.
The Labor Department also said the unemployment rate rose to 4.3% in July from 4.1% in June. Economists had expected the unemployment rate to remain unchanged.
With the unexpected increase, the unemployment rate reached its highest level since hitting 4.5% in October 2021.
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